Bon Iver new EP Blood Bank changes direction and puts out this weak EP.  The follow up to his masterpiece For Emma, Forever Ago is still in the works, but this EP shows the potential of what it will sound like.  With only 4 tracks (one of which he experiments a little too much), this EP is suppose to wet your appetite on what may sadly come; a crummy experimental record.

“Blood Bank”, the title track, features electric guitars and strings.  He continues with his reverb filled voice, but now he’s got an electric guitar filled with chorus effect to accompany him.  The coda features a misplaced feedback guitar solo.  It sounds like it belongs in a Radiohead tune rather than something from this folksie guy.  He does continue to sing in his The Band like higher pitch vocal style and thats all that this track has going for it.  The mood is right, but ends up in the wrong place (No wonder his band broke up they must have sucked). Listen to this clip with random visuals:

“Beach Baby” is the only track worth listening to on this horrible EP.  Maybe I like his previous album a bit much, but this is the only track that harks back to that out in the woods sound.  It’s got the typical acoustic guitar and vocal sound that works.  The weird Hawaiian like guitar solo seems to work on this track surprisingly.
I swear I heard a toddler play piano like the intro to “Babys” in the local mall, but maybe that is the effect he’s going for.  There is also an acoustic guitar that is strumming along, but this produces a horrible cacophony of nonsense.  Constantly repeating “Summer comes to multiply, to multiply” sounds like he is at a point in his life to have kids or a “fleet” as he claims.  One of the more straightforward lyrically pieces on this album.  Unfortunately, I think babies make more interesting noises in their diapers than this song.